A Haircut and a Transplant
Patient Ambassador - Matthew Randle’s Transplant Journey
In November of 2022, Matthew began to feel unwell and went in for his final stint before his transplant. This would have him back on his feet and feeling better for only a few weeks before he began feeling exhausted and became jaundiced. Matthew’s hairdresser would be the one to highlight the change to him as she cut his hair, pointing out she could see the difference in his scalp! Matthew took this information on board and headed back to his doctor, who confirmed something was not right! After several tests, they came back to Matthew and said his MELD score was at the top of the charts; however, this was not a chart you wanted to be at the top of as it wasn’t the time for a transplant was upon him.
He was placed on the transplant waitlist, and due to his score, he was bumped to number one. Matt would receive “the call” twice before he received his liver. Each time, doctors would begin to prep him before discovering that they were not the perfect match. The third time was the charm, as they say, and the liver was perfect, and Matt received his second chance at life! Matt has always been highly active, running 17 ultra marathons before his transplant and making the most of everything, and now he feels it is time to continue that with a new liver. Matt received his transplant at the age of 49, and now, at age 50, is ready to take on the world again, including trying to be the first full liver transplant recipient to complete Leadville 100!
Matthew was born with Biliary Atresia (BA), which caused his bile ducts to not form properly. This led to doctors performing a procedure known as Kasai Surgery when he was only 14 months old. The surgery was a success; however, this was a very new surgery, and the success rate for this procedure was extremely low. Matt, however, became an exception to this trend and went on to grow and thrive just as a “normal” kid would! Up until the age of 18, Matt would only experience several flare-ups of Cholangitis that he would quickly overcome. As an adult, he became one of the oldest living survivors from the original surgery, which allowed him to experience a healthy childhood and adulthood. He did experience three bouts of Cholangitis in adulthood, and he would have a drainage tube placed in his bile ducts before he recovered and went back to his daily life.
While the success was incredible, Matt was not unaware of the fact his liver would not survive forever, and a liver transplant would eventually be his future. He relied on this enviability to help him through his transplant journey; he was always mentally preparing for when the day came that he would need his life saved by a new liver! He has used this over the past year and a half as his liver began to struggle more and more, and he eventually fell into liver failure.
Matt sees it as his mission, even prior to his transplant, to give hope and inspiration to those on the waitlist or with critical conditions. Matt wants to share his story and show it is possible to live life to its fullest, both pre-transplant and post-transplant. He is not a fan of the limelight, but if he has it, he wants to share a positive message. He wants to show people how important the gift of life is in another family’s life and give them the opportunity to live a full life. Matthew wants to inspire individuals to make the decision to help others, even if they are scared or intimidated by the thought of becoming a donor.
We are so excited to have Matthew on the team and help spread the message in Colorado and across the nation.
